Urbanisation is occurring at an accelerating pace. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) said five billion people will live in cities by 2030. This means about six out of 10 of the world’s population will live in cities. But urbanisation also comes with challenges such as overcrowding, rising social and income inequalities as well as pollution, and overstretched public infrastructure.

Efforts by some Pasir Ris residents to save a woodland at the junction of Pasir Ris Drive 3 and Elias Road have hit a wall, with development plans for an international school set to go ahead, according to the Ministry of National Development (MND) in two letters addressed to a resident last Tuesday.

The site was among those included in a request-for-interest exercise announced in April, said the letters sent via email and signed by Strategic Planning Manager Loo Jian Sheng for the ministry's Permanent Secretary.